Tillage reels are well known in the art and have typically been used in field finishing operations to reduce clod size and smooth the surface of the ground to prepare a suitable seed bed. Conventional reels are typically provided with a cage-like construction comprising two or more axially spaced bulkheads or wheels that are spanned by a plurality of rigid bars spaced circumferentially around the periphery of the reel. The bars extend generally parallel to the axis of rotation of the reel and serve to impact and break up surface clods as the reel is rotatably driven by the ground during advancement of the tillage equipment.
In strip till operations wherein only a relatively narrow strip of soil is tilled to prepare a strip-type seed bed, it is a common practice to form the tilled strip into a long raised berm into which the seeds will ultimately be planted. In order to avoid destroying the berm when engaged by the reel, it is known in the art to use reels having generally concave bars so that the reel present a centrally tapered or waisted configuration that generally conforms to the humped cross-section of the berm as the reel straddles the berm with its wheels riding along opposite sides of the berm. However, in these strip till operations, and in conventional field finishing operations as well, there is a tendency for the reels to ball up and plug as wet stick soil pushes past the reel bars into the interior of the reel. This adversely affects the ability of the reel to perform its intended finishing operations and may necessitate costly and frustrating down time in order to clean out the plugged reel so that it will perform properly.
Accordingly, one important object of the present invention is to provide a tillage reel that is effective in reducing surface soil clods to the desired particle size while resisting the tendency to become packed with mud and trash materials during use in adverse conditions. Another important object of the invention is to provide a reel that is especially suited for use in strip till operations in which it is desirable to reduce clod size and pulverize the soil without destroying the integrity of the berm created by components that precede the reel.